Day 13

We had opted for a full day of game drives in a jeep in Etosha. We saw a wide range of animals, both large and not so large, but all beautiful (including those that are so ugly that it was beautiful again). Etosha is quite dry, causing most animals to come together around natural and man-made waterholes. During the morning our ranger had heard that a group of female lions was making its way to one of them. When we approached this waterhole, you could sense an eerie atmosphere on the surrounding savannah. All animal had stepped away from the waterhole, none of them were moving and every single one of them was facing these 5 lionesses that walked into the scene like they owned the place (which they essentially do). After calmly helping themselves to all the water they needed, they moved on to the relative coolness of a dry water duct under the road a few hundred meters away. All local rangers anticipated this, so when the first lioness was heading in that directions, about half the vehicles facing the waterhole started their engines and quickly made their way to get the best spot on that road, leaving the other spectators in doubt about what was happening. When we watched the lionesses walk towards the water duct, we were close enough to see the blood of their breakfast on their face, chest and front paws. Later we noticed that the lions had made their way to a cool spot just in time, because as we would find out also the remainder of the days during this trip, temperatures were always agreeable in the morning (even cold if you were to ask some – not me) and would then all of a sudden go to too hot within minutes, somewhere between 10.30 and 11.00.
We had lunch during the hottest part of the day and continued the game drive after that. Although we saw less animals in the afternoon, there was still enough to be seen. We for instance made it back to the same waterhole we visited that morning and that time a male elephant had just found his way there. This time the animals had not collectively stepped back and those that were not too close would calmly go about their business, but what I did not expect was that elephants don’t tolerate other animals in their waterhole. So while this big guy was enjoying a drink and a splash, he would make sure to regularly make it known that right there and then he owned the place and although a gutsy impala would sneak in a gulp or two, the majority did seem to respect this. While an ostrich in the background made sure to stay clear from the water, he managed to photo bomb about every picture we have taken of this spectacle, as we noticed when we got back. The intense black color of his feathers even made Willem thing that he had a speck of dirt on his lens when he took the pictures.
Although I would have liked to enjoy parts of this day with a bit more peace and quiet, so that I could enjoy the serenity of those surroundings, all in all it was pretty awesome (and for those who weren’t there, probably better appreciated when seeing the pictures).
Before dinner, Willem and I made our way to the viewing point of a waterhole that was constructed adjacent to our camp site. When we arrived, about 5 giraffes were walking in the direction of this waterhole, but it took forever for the first one of these skittish animals to actually drink. They did not seem to be making a single step in the direction of the water, without first looking in all directions, taking at least a few minutes to look around before actually drinking. Interestingly, they did seem to be looking for safety in numbers, because while we were sitting there we could see more and more giraffes appearing from the far distance in all directions, to a point where there were at least about 15 to 20 making their way in our direction. They appeared to only be drinking one or two at a time, taking advantage of the other giraffes looking around. Using my binoculars, I could see why they were probably so skittish, because a bit to the side of the waterhole, a bunch of vultures were feasting on a two- or three-day old carcass of a giraffe. When we went back after dinner there was only one giraffe and since we did not have the patience to wait for more than a few minutes, we missed lions and rhinos that had visited the place later that evening.